


The Way You Turn

by pensivedata



Category: Brennen Taylor - Fandom, Sam and Colby
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Assassins & Hitmen, Fluff, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Kinda, M/M, Slow Burn, Stockholm Syndrome, Strangers to Lovers, very slow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22275028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pensivedata/pseuds/pensivedata
Summary: It was just a wrong place, wrong time situation.
Relationships: Colby Brock & Brennen Taylor, Colby Brock/Brennen Taylor
Comments: 25
Kudos: 33





	1. One

Brennen carried the struggling man down the cellar stairs, every bone in his body numb and aching from the cold winter night but still set alight by the adrenaline coursing through him. He cursed under his breath as a particularly hard jerk almost had him stumbling down the last few steps, and he kicked the man’s shin in retaliation, a silent warning to not try that shit with him again.

He pushed the heavy door at the bottom of the staircase open with his leg, shoving the man through the doorway, ignoring the yelp of surprise when the ropes tripped him up and sent falling to the cold cement floor. He shut the door behind him, then leaned over to yank the body up, dragging him over to a chair in the center of the room and dropping him unceremoniously onto it.

Whatever the man was trying to say was muffled by the cloth in his mouth, not that Brennen would have cared to hear it anyway. He produced another length of rope from his pocket, walking behind the chair and feeling around for the man’s arms, looping the rope around his wrists and then through the spokes of the back of the chair, checking to make sure they were tight enough before stepping away.

He circled the chair again so he was facing the man and reached into his pocket until he felt his fingers wrap around the familiar cool metal of his gun, pulling it out and revelling in the tell tale click of the safety being switched off. Raising his weapon and aiming it at his target, he finally leaned forward and grasped the cloth bag, pulling it off of the man’s head along with the makeshift gag and letting it fall to the ground.

And then he froze.

His finger hovered over the trigger, ready to act almost as if on instinct, but his heart was pounding so hard in his chest, and not in the good way that usually came with successfully completing a hit.

His target had his eyes squeezed shut, visibly trembling where he sat - although Brennen couldn’t think of many people who wouldn’t be doing the same. The difference was that he looked so _young_.

A bitter taste coated the back of his throat as he was hit with the realization of just how wrong this hit had gone. Somewhere along the line, someone had to have fucked up. That was the only explanation he could come up with, and he couldn’t even begin to comprehend what that meant for him.

He dropped his gun to his side in defeat, clicking the safety back on and taking a step back.

“You’re just a kid.”

The aforementioned boy allowed one eye to open ever so slowly, not knowing if he’d be staring down the barrel of a gun, or worse. Brennen took in his tear stained cheeks and puffy red eyes, half obscured by messy brown hair, before glancing up at the ceiling, cursing whatever deity might exist for bringing this upon him, stepping back until he was leaning against the wall.

“What’s your name?” He questioned flatly, crossing his arms over his chest. The boys bottom lip trembled, but he didn’t speak, eyes trained on Brennen’s gun. Brennen sighed, uncrossing his arms and pocketing his gun before returning to his line of query. 

“I’m not gonna hurt you kid, just tell me your fuckin’ name.”

“Colby,” came the frightened whisper.

Brennen had already come to the conclusion in his mind that he had the wrong guy, but the confirmation still filled him with a wave of nausea, and he ran a hand down his face in an attempt to recalibrate.

“Okay,” he said quietly, reaching into his pocket for the phone, not missing the way the boy flinched at his movement.

“It’s just my phone,” he showed him, reaching behind him for the door handle. “I need to make a call, and then I’ll be right back.”

He didn’t wait for a response, slipping out of the room and shutting the door behind him and dialing a number that would usually call him instead. He lifted his phone to his ear, keeping his back against the door, praying that the beeping would end and someone would pick up.

_“Taylor?”_

Brennen sighed in relief, clearing his throat.

“Speaking. Listen, I think someone gave me the wrong information for tonight’s job,” he kept his voice even, running a hand through his hair.

_“The fuck do you mean?”_

“I mean, I went to the address I was given, but whoever I got was not the right person.” He did his best to explain without sounding accusatory, or hostile, knowing all too well how easy it was to upset the wrong person in this line of work.

_“How do you know?”_

“There’s no way this person is thirty.”

_“IS? You didn’t take care of him?”_

Brennen winced, quickly correcting his mistake.

“Sorry, _was_ ,” he lied, taking his bottom lip between his teeth, hoping he hadn’t fucked up.

_“Alright,”_ the voice on the other end of the phone continued after a pause. _“I’ll figure out what happened; until then, wait for another call with the proper info.”_

The click of him hanging up felt very final.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first ever multiple-chapter fic! Will try to post a chapter at least once a week. Just a fair warning that it's gonna be very slow burn, and it's definitely not my best work, but I want to post it anyway because it's good practice and this pairing doesn't have enough works. :) Comments and kudos much appreciated!


	2. Two

The moment the call ended, a loud thump reverberated from the other room, and Brennen quickly opened the door, hand over his gun. He relaxed his posture when he saw no immediate threat, eyes falling instead on where the chair now lay on its side on the floor along with its occupant.

The boy- Colby- went rigid with fear as Brennen stepped closer, closing his eyes again, making himself as small as possible. 

“Please don’t,” he whispered when Brennen reached a hand out, and he paused, evaluating the situation before placing it on the boy’s arm in what he hoped was a somewhat comforting gesture.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” he repeated, but this didn’t do much to put a stop to Colby’s panicked breathing, which was very quickly turning into hyperventilating. He decided to just get it over with, quickly taking the boy’s forearms and pulling him and the chair back into a sitting position.

Brennen furrowed his brows when he noticed the fresh cut on the side of the kid’s head, which he suspected was from hitting the floor.

“For fuck’s sake,” he mumbled, standing up. “I’ll be right back; don’t knock yourself over again, please.”

Colby didn’t respond, eyes glued to the floor, so he just assumed he was listening and exited the room again, locking the door behind him this time.

“This is crazy,” he murmured to himself as he headed up the stairs and down the hallway to his bathroom, swinging open the medicine cabinet and searching for what he needed. Rubbing alcohol, cotton, band-aids, gauze- and then he was on the floor, head in his hands.

_What the fuck was he doing?_

He had tried to push the question out of his mind, focussing on what needed to be done, but now he was at a fork in the road and he knew there was no coming back from whatever path he chose.

If he didn’t kill this kid, then what? He just lets him go? Hopes he doesn’t remember his face? Prays that no one decides to follow up and make sure he’s really taken care of? No fucking way. The amount of things that could go wrong in that scenario were endless, and none of them ended very happily for him _or_ Colby.

So the logical thing to do, at least in his line of work, would be to kill him like he was supposed to. Problem solved. No one left to go to the police, and no one coming to kill him for purposefully leaving a hit open ended.

But he couldn’t do it.

Brennen looked down at the supplies on the floor, knowing that if he went down there with them, he couldn’t go back after that. There was no way he’d be able to point a gun at the kid’s head and pull the trigger after he’d fixed up the injuries that _he_ had fucking given him.

He went around in circles for a minute, despite already knowing at heart what he was going to do, and came to the conclusion that he would set his problems aside and go with what felt right in that moment.

Gathering the items up from the floor, he made his way back down the hall, grabbing an unopened water bottle from the fridge on his way down. He debated knocking on the door once he reached the bottom of the stairs, but he figured Colby was going to be afraid no matter what he did, so he settled for opening the door slowly, peeking his head around the corner before walking in.

Colby watched him silently as he dragged a low table up to where he was sitting, then pulled a chair up for himself and sat down across from the brunette. He eyed him distrustfully while he set his stuff down on the table, his whole body still shaking and his chest rising and falling much too quickly.

Brennen leaned back in his chair, attempting to make himself look less intimidating.

“I know you’re scared, but I’m really not going to hurt you, I promise,” he said sincerely, looking the boy in his bright blue eyes. He could see more unshed tears threatening to spill over, and he looked away, unscrewing the cap on the bottle of rubbing alcohol and pouring some onto a cotton ball.

“I just wanna clean up the cut on your head, okay?”

Colby flinched away before he could even touch him, tears once again streaming down his cheeks as he drew in panicked breaths, shaking violently.

“Fuck, man, you have to stop,” Brennen said sternly, but that only seemed to make things worse, the boys head falling forward as he sobbed openly.

Brennen set the bottle and cotton back down on the table, and, unable to think of anything else, leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the boy. He struggled to move away for a few moments, but then settled when he realized his efforts were futile, instead trying to keep as still as possible.

Brennen held him like that until he felt tense arms begin to relax under his own, his breathing steady in comparison to Colby’s shuddering, uneven breaths. He could feel tears soaking through his sweater, and he felt nauseous with guilt, wishing with all his heart that the events of that night hadn’t happened.


	3. Three

When Brennen finally pulled away, Colby’s breathing had calmed considerably, though he kept his eyes trained on his lap, leg bouncing anxiously. Brennen placed a hand on his knee, getting his attention as he picked up the cotton ball again with his free hand.

“Can I clean this up now?” He asked gently. Colby nodded meekly, only glancing at him for a brief moment before he was back to staring at the floor.

The younger hissed when the alcohol made contact with the cut, and Brennen squeezed his knee, trying to distract him from the sting.

“Sorry,” he murmured, tilting the brunette’s head to the side a bit so he could have a clearer view of what he was doing. He guessed the evening’s ordeal had exhausted Colby, because he was much more pliant now, letting Brennen do what he needed to.

He dabbed at the wound with the cotton, wiping away the blood and making sure there wasn’t any dirt around it before reaching for some gauze, tearing away a strip and placing it carefully over the cut. He pressed it down as gently as he could before sitting back, looking the boy up and down to see if there were any other visible injuries that might have occurred during his capture.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Colby shrugged in response, wincing when the action caused the rope to drag across his skin.

“Shit,” Brennen muttered, realizing he really hadn’t thought very far ahead, not that he had anticipated that being necessary.

“Okay, I’m gonna go get some more things, but I can’t move you yet,” he said apologetically, standing up once again. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

  
  
  
  


It took a while, but Brennen managed to move some essentials to the basement, although he kept telling himself it was only temporary. He pushed a mattress into one corner of the room, along with a stack of blankets and pillows, and he set some books and paper and pencils on the floor next to it.

He’d been stabbed with worse than a pencil, and he doubted Colby had it in him to pull something like that, but he still knew he’d have to be careful entering the room, just incase.

He also brought down a few more water bottles, but he didn’t have much food at home since he usually ate out, so he decided he’d have to do something about that the next day. He was pretty sure he’d brought everything he needed until he realized-

“Fuck. There’s no bathroom down here.”

Colby kept his head down, obviously tired from being sat up for so long, showing no indication of having heard his statement.

Brennen bit his lip, going over his options in his head.

“Alright, um. I guess I’ll have to take you upstairs,” he said, trying to work out the logistics. “But- _shit_ , this is so fucked up.”

He could’ve laughed at the situation if he didn’t feel so horrible for getting Colby into it in the first place. The younger was watching him deliberate, eyes drooping.

“I’m gonna have to put the gag back on,” Brennen stated apologetically, running a hand over his face. Uncertainty flickered across the boys face, but he didn’t object, so Brennen picked the strip of cloth up off the floor, walking around the chair so he was behind Colby.

He held the cloth in front of Colby’s face, giving him a chance to speak, but he stayed silent, so Brennen pulled the cloth and looped it around his head, making sure it was tight over his mouth.

“Okay, I’m gonna untie your hands, and retie them in front of you,” he explained, hoping it would put the boy at ease to know in advance what he was doing. He swiftly undid his knots, holding both of Colby’s wrists in one hand as he did so before walking around so he was standing in front of him once again, tying them back together.

Colby let out a muffled noise of pain when Brennen pulled him into a standing position, and he stopped, quickly pulling the gag down.

“Sorry,” Colby whispered, and Brennen shook his head.

“Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to apologize,” he reassured him. He knew he wasn’t gonna get the kid to trust him in just a few hours, but he felt guilty enough as it was without Colby blaming himself for pain Brennen had (unintentionally) caused.

“Where does it hurt?”

He thought for a moment that that was the extent of response he would get out of Colby for the time being, but the boy proved him wrong.

“My shoulders and my leg,” he spoke quickly and quietly, as though he thought Brennen would get mad if he took too long.

“Thank you for telling me,” he said sincerely, hoping to bring him some comfort. “Your shoulders probably hurt because of how long your arms were behind your back, but where’s the pain on your leg?”

“My ankle,” he answered nervously, and when Brennen looked down he could see that he was definitely leaning more weight on his right leg than his left.

“Okay. Can you walk on it?”

Colby took a step forward and nodded.

“Alright, I’m gonna put this back on then,” he gestured to the cloth hanging around his neck before sliding it back up his chin and over his mouth. He kept a hand on Colby’s arm as he pulled the door open, nudging him forward onto the first step.

They made it halfway up before Brennen heard a whimper escape from Colby’s mouth, muted by the cloth. When he leaned over to check on him, he saw that he was crying again, and swore under his breath, pulling the gag back down.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Colby got out as soon as he could speak. “I can’t.”

“You can’t what?” Brennen asked, voice laced with concern.

“Ankle,” he gritted through his teeth, and Brennen instantly lifted him so he was leaning his weight against him rather than on his leg.

“Fuck, why didn’t you-” He cut himself off, realizing he couldn’t have said anything if he wanted to.

“I’m so sorry, Colby,” he uttered, lowering him down so he was sitting on a step. Colby hid his face between his legs as Bren bent down to his height.

“I don’t wanna have to put the gag on,” Brennen murmured. “Can I- please, just don’t yell. I know it doesn’t make sense right now, but I promise you it’s better if you don’t.”

He knew how stupid that must sound to Colby, but he was at a loss and didn’t know what else to do.

Colby nodded, sniffling, and Brennen stood again.

“I’m gonna carry you up, okay?”

He didn’t object, so Brennen grabbed his upper arms, helping him to his feet. He got an arm behind Colby’s back, and then another under his legs, careful to avoid his ankle as he picked him up.

He made his way cautiously up the stairs, and held his breath when they reached the top, half expecting Colby to start screaming bloody murder, but nothing happened, so he continued down the hall. When they got to the bathroom, he sat Colby down on the toilet seat so he could quickly grab anything sharp and pocket it, thankful for the first time that the room had such a tiny window - definitely not person-sized.

He glanced around the room once more before stepping out, placing his hand on the door frame.

“Just- um, bump against the door or something when you want to come out, okay?”

Colby nodded, looking like he wanted the floor to open up underneath him.

Brennen backed away, shutting the door behind him and sliding down the wall to finally sit down for a minute. His heart felt heavy with guilt and regret, and all he wanted to do was go to sleep and wake up the next morning to all of this just being one horrible dream.


	4. Four

The rest of the night had been about as stressful as Brennen had assumed it would be. After he had brought Colby back downstairs, he had double and then triple checked the room to make sure he hadn’t left anything in it that he didn’t mean to, all while he could feel the boy’s watchful eyes on him from where Brennen had sat him on his mattress.

He locked and bolted the door after he exited the basement, and then went straight to his room, collapsing onto his bed in exhaustion.

With nothing else to distract him, all of the thoughts he’d been repressing all evening came flooding into his mind.

At this point, he knew there was no way he could bring himself to kill the kid. It wasn’t like what he did wasn’t morally questionable as it was, but in his head, that was crossing a line. With regular assignments, he at least always had a reason to carry out the hit, whether it be because the target is involved in something crooked, or they’ve wronged one of the higher ups, or they just know too much about the inner workings of the business.

But killing an innocent kid because of a mistake someone else made? Fuck no.

He wanted nothing more than to just let this kid go and somehow have a guarantee that none of that night’s events would ever get into the hands of police, but he knew no matter how many times someone promised that they wouldn’t say anything, there was no way to insure their word was true. Even if the kid _did_ actually keep quiet, he knew very well that the boss would send someone else to finish what Brennen couldn’t, and he doubted they’d be half as considerate as Brennen was.

He knew the best option for his own livelihood was to just let him go, and let someone else deal with it, but the thought of that sparked a fire in his chest that he wasn’t all too fond of.

And that’s the circle his thoughts kept going in, refusing to acknowledge his only other option. So he talked himself around in circles until he finally fell asleep, content to deal with it all in the morning.

  
  


The morning arrived way too soon, but he dragged himself out of bed, showering and getting dressed, grabbing his wallet and keys on his way out the door. He wasn’t sure if the kid would even want to eat, but he would at least try; it was bad enough as it was that he was in his cellar all by himself, let alone without food.

He found himself thinking back to what he liked to eat as a teenager as he perused the aisles of the brightly lit grocery store. He was only in his early twenties, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d made food at home; his work supplied him with more than enough money to be able to eat out or order food every day while barely putting a dent in his bank account.

He arrived home with a little bit of everything, sorting the items into their respective places and putting a bunch of snacks in a bag to bring downstairs. He carried a separate bag to the bathroom, ignoring the nagging voice in his head that said _this doesn’t seem temporary_ as he emptied a drawer under the sink, throwing in a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a few other essentials he had purchased.

When he finally opened the door to the basement, his stomach dropped. Everything he had left downstairs was untouched, and Colby looked worse off than the night before. His skin was pale and his eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed, dried tears covering his face. Brennen’s heart ached at the sight, realizing how many awful thoughts must have been running through the kid’s head all night.

It was different for Brennen- he had seen and endured a lot of fucked up shit in his lifetime. It had become the norm for him, especially when he entered this line of work. But for all he knew, Colby could have come from the happiest family in the world, could have had a group of friends he loved, could have had hopes and aspirations for the future.

And here he was, messing it up all because someone couldn’t double check their fucking information before sending it his way.

Colby scooted to the corner of the mattress as Brennen shut the door behind him, back against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest. He hadn’t even taken his shoes off, and the blankets and pillows Brennen had left him were still neatly stacked at the edge of the bed. Before Brennen could say anything, the kid opened his mouth.

“Are you gonna kill me?” He croaked, fear evident in his eyes.

“I’m not,” Brennen promised, setting the bag of food down on the table.

“Then...are you gonna let me go?”

Brennen’s chest tightened at the hopeful undertone that carried his words, but he hid it the best he could, busying himself with putting the food out on the table.

“I need time,” he lied, keeping his back to the kid.

“Why?”

Brennen ran a hand over his face. They’d both clearly had a lot of time to think about things overnight, but this was the point where there was no going back. If he told Colby the truth about what had happened, that was it; there was no way he could let him go. But it didn’t seem like there was a feasible way for that to happen regardless, so Brennen turned and walked over to the bed, setting a chair in front of it and sitting down.

Colby watched him silently, fidgeting anxiously with the strings on his hoodie, eyes searching his face as he waited for Brennen to speak.

“I’m a contract killer,” he started, figuring he’d get the worst bit out of the way. Colby blinked at him, looking like he expected Brennen to laugh and say he was just kidding.

“Someone gave me the wrong information last night. You weren’t supposed to be involved whatsoever; it was just a wrong place, wrong time situation,” he explained. He could see the boy thinking it over, so he waited.

“Why can’t you let me go?” Colby asked quietly, like he was scared to upset Brennen. “I wouldn’t say anything.”

Bren tilted his head sympathetically; he expected that sentence to come out eventually.

“I just need more time,” he gently repeated himself, not wanting the kid to panic. Colby lowered his eyes, blinking rapidly, suddenly very interested his hands.

“I brought food,” he stood up, attempting to distract him. Colby looked back up at him with watery eyes.

“Do you want me to make you something?” Brennen asked, but Colby just shook his head like he predicted, so he sat back down, sighing.

“Did you sleep?”

Colby shrugged noncommittally.

“Did you try?”

“Can’t,” he murmured, eyes back on the bed.

Brennen leaned forward, but stopped when Colby flinched backwards, hitting his side against the wall and letting out a small cry, his hands quickly flying up to his ribs. Brennen furrowed his brows, holding his own hands up in an attempt to look as non-threatening as possible as he slid out of the chair and crouched next to the mattress.

Colby’s face was red, and he wouldn’t meet Brennen’s eyes, keeping himself curled up in the corner.

“Are you hurt somewhere else?” Brennen kept his voice low, not wanting to alarm him.

“I already told you yesterday,” Colby mumbled. Brennen refrained from rolling his eyes.

“Obviously something hurt when you bumped into the wall,” he pressed.

“Yeah, because bumping into it hurt.”

“Colby-”

“I don’t even know your name,” Colby finally looked up, hands shaking, tears threatening to spill over. “I know you don’t care- I know you’re gonna kill me,” his voice cracked on the last two words, and he quickly closed his mouth, trying to keep his bottom lip from trembling.

Brennen shook his head, moving to sit on the edge of the mattress, wanting to comfort the kid but knowing it wasn’t possible when he was the cause of his distress.

“My name is Brennen,” he said softly, figuring that with everything he already knew, using his real name couldn’t make things much worse. “I’m not going to kill you. I know you don’t believe me, and you have every right to be distrustful, but I would never kill a minor.”

Somehow, that seemed to make things worse; Colby lowered his head to his knees, trembling.

“Colby, I’m sorry, but I really need to know if you have any other injuries,” Brennen continued, accepting that his attempts at comfort were failing miserably. Colby peered up at him from where his head rested on his knees, eyes fearful.

“Can I just,” Brennen gestured, leaning forward slowly, but Colby shook his head frantically, holding his hands out to keep him back.

He wanted nothing more than to just drop the subject and leave the kid alone, but now that he thought about it, he was looking kinda sickly, paler now than when Brennen had first entered the room. He cursed under his breath, then moved quickly, taking the boys wrists in his hand, warding off his legs with the other as he attempted to push him off.

Despite his efforts to kick at him, Brennen easily overpowered Colby, sitting on his legs and lifting up his hoodie. His eyes immediately fell on a bloody gash on his left side, and he grimaced, but then his eyes were drawn to something dark that was just visible under the hem of his sweater. He lifted it up further, apologizing as he did so, then raised his eyebrows when he realized what it was.

A tattoo.

He dropped the hoodie and looked back up at Colby. The boy was shaking in his grip, sobbing as he tried to push him off, so Brennen let go, moving back to sit on the edge of the mattress again.

“Please don’t kill me,” the brunette blurted out, voice unsteady with fear.

  
That’s why he was so reluctant to show Brennen his wound. He wasn’t actually a kid, and now Brennen knew because of the tattoo. He was hit with a second realization- it didn’t change anything at all. He still couldn’t even bring himself to _think_ of hurting him.


	5. Five

If Brennen had thought the situation was messy before, it was nothing compared to how he felt now after his realization.

This was literally his only out. He could go upstairs, get his gun, and put an end to this predicament in less than a minute. So why couldn’t he bring himself to do it?

Colby was working himself into a panic attack, so Brennen set his thoughts aside for the moment, shaking his head.

“Colby, listen,” he said firmly but quietly, placing a hand on his leg.

“ _Please_ ,” Colby whimpered, pulling his leg away, making himself as small as he possibly could. He was gonna pass out soon if he didn’t stop hyperventilating.

“I’m not going to kill you, Colby. I promised you I wouldn’t, nothing has changed,” he spoke slowly, hoping to get through to the boy.

Colby shook his head, looking at Brennen with wide eyes.

“You said you wouldn’t kill me because I’m a kid,” he got out, tears running into his mouth.

“I know,” Brennen said calmly. “But I didn’t say I would kill you if you _weren’t_.”

Colby looked at him distrustfully, hands clutching his knees so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.

“I am not going to hurt you. I have no interest in doing so, and I need you to breathe Colby, okay?” Brennen said gently. “I’ll explain better, but you need to calm down first.”

Colby nodded, though he didn’t look convinced.

“Good. Deep breaths then, alright?” He instructed, watching Colby’s chest shudder as he inhaled deeply.

Brennen matched his breathing as his crying died down over the next few minutes, the occasional hiccup slipping out as Colby wiped his tears away with his sleeves. He passed the younger boy one of the water bottles, smiling slightly when he got a mumbled _thanks_ in return.

“You okay?”

Colby nodded as he drank some of the water, so Bren sat back, leaning on his hands.

“Okay. After I brought you here yesterday, I called my boss to ask what happened, because when I took off your blindfold, you obviously weren’t a man in his thirties,” he explained. 

Colby scoffed bitterly at that, setting the water bottle back down.

“He insinuated that he thought I should have killed you, so I lied and said that I did, because I didn’t want him to send someone else over here.” He paused, wondering how honest he should be.

“At the time of that phone call, I thought I was gonna be able to do it,” he winced as he said it, realizing how bad it sounded. “But I couldn’t. And I still can’t.”

Colby studied his face as he spoke, fidgeting with his sleeves.

“And I’m too scared to let you leave, because even though you say you wouldn’t tell anyone, it always gets out, and someone else is gonna come after you.”

“How would it get out if I didn’t say anything?”

“It would. You would slip up at some point, no matter how convinced you are that you wouldn’t.”

Colby lowered his head in defeat, bottom lip trembling again.

“I just wanna go home.”

Brennen’s chest hurt at the desperation in his voice, and he bit the inside of his cheek, mentally cursing himself for not doing something differently, though he didn’t know what else he could’ve done.

“I know, and I’m so fucking sorry this happened,” he said sincerely, heart physically aching at the devastated expression on the younger boy’s face. “If I could go back and change something, I would, but…”

He trailed off, both of them sitting in silence for a minute.

“I’ll think of something,” Brennen murmured, though he knew deep down that he had already gone through every option available.

He then remembered the whole reason this conversation had happened.

“The gash on your side- did I…?” He gestured, and Colby shook his head.

“No, it‘s from something else.” Brennen waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t, and he didn’t want to push him, so he saved that for another time.

“When did it happen?”

“Yesterday, before,” Colby gestured. Brennen nodded.

“I’m sorry for forcing you to show me,” he apologized. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Colby shrugged, shifting slightly.

“Is it okay if I look at it properly?” Brennen asked. Colby hesitated.

“I won’t touch it unless you say I can,” Brennen added, and that seemed to relax the boy, which confirmed his suspicion that he was scared of the pain of it.

“Okay,” Colby mumbled reluctantly, lifting his hoodie up and sitting back.

“Thank you,” Brennen said softly, moving to sit beside him. Colby flinched when Brennen placed his hand above the wound, holding the hoodie out of the way.

The gash was still bleeding, or rather oozing, but it didn’t look infected yet, which was a relief. He had faith in his little bit of medical skill, but he wasn’t sure it stretched that far.

“I don’t think it’s infected,” he commented, and felt Colby breathe a sigh of relief under his hand. He sat back again, letting Colby readjust his hoodie.

“But we need to get it clean; can I run you a bath?” Brennen asked tentatively, worried he was pushing it again. He had just finally got the boy to calm down a little bit, and he didn’t wanna set him off again or break whatever tiny semblance of trust he had built up.

“Okay,” Colby agreed, tone laced with anxiety.

“Alright,” Brennen stretched, then stood, holding a hand out to help Colby up before he remembered his ankle and crouched back down.

“Sorry,” Colby mumbled as Brennen lifted him up, carrying him to the door.

“It’s my fault,” Brennen cut him off, walking carefully up the stairs. “You barely weigh anything, anyway,” he attempted to lighten the mood.

He carried him to the bathroom, setting him down on the counter so he could turn on the tap, holding his hand under it to make sure it wasn’t too hot before he put the plug in the drain. He could feel Colby’s eyes on him as he dried his hands off, following his every move, but when he turned back around he quickly lowered his gaze back down to the floor.

Brennen cleared his throat, ready to address the elephant in the room, but Colby beat him to it.

“I can do it myself,” he mumbled, and Brennen nodded, feeling slightly relieved.

“Okay. I’ll find some clothes for you while you get in,” he said, then paused. “But you gotta leave the door open, alright? I need to be able to hear if you need anything.”

“Fine,” he agreed quietly, tapping his fingers on the side of his leg anxiously.

Brennen headed down the hall to his room, waiting in the doorway until he heard Colby step into the bath, paranoid that he would just run at the first chance he got.

  
He wondered if he would ever _not_ be paranoid.


	6. Six

Brennen picked out a pair of sweats, some socks, and a hoodie he didn’t think he’d miss, hoping it wouldn’t be too big on Colby, then added some briefs to the pile of clothes too after some back and forth in his head. He carried them back to the bathroom and set them on the counter, keeping his back to the room, then sat down just outside the doorway, leaning back against the wall.

He scrolled through his local news feed on his phone while he waited, only relaxing once he had hit the bottom of the site without seeing any headlines regarding a missing person, then opened his notes app, starting a new list.

“What do you want me to get for downstairs?” He asked, hearing the water quiet as Colby stilled.

“What?”

“TV? Books?” Brennen elaborated, thankful that money wasn’t an issue.

“I thought…”

“Yeah, I know, but just for now,” Brennen lied through his teeth, wondering if Colby had taken his comment from earlier to heart about thinking of a way out of the situation. He hoped not.

“You don’t have to,” he mumbled, and Brennen shook his head, forgetting that Colby couldn’t see him.

“I know that,” he assured him. The last thing he wanted was for the boy to feel like a burden; it wasn’t Colby’s fault he was mixed up in all of this. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by a quiet, pained whimper, and he pocketed his phone, ready to stand up.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, not wanting to invade his privacy. He heard a quiet _‘fuck’_ , and tapped his hand impatiently on the wall to get the boy’s attention. “Colby.”

“I can’t do it,” he said lowly, voice shaky.

“Can’t do what?”

“I can’t, um,” Colby stammered. “There’s a lot of blood.”

“Okay, I’m coming in,” Brennen instantly stood, alarmed by this comment. When he stepped into the bathroom, he scanned Colby quickly, but the gash on his side looked almost the same as earlier. The water was tinted pink from the blood, though, and Brennen grimaced, situating himself beside the tub.

“It’s not bleeding more than earlier,” he told Colby, taking the cloth out of his hand. He was worryingly pale, and he was looking anywhere but down at his side.

“I can’t look at it,” Colby mumbled, eyes focussing on where Brennen’s hand rested on the edge of the tub.

“At the blood?” Brennen questioned, and Colby nodded in confirmation, swallowing hard.

“You could have told me,” he murmured, and Colby shook his head, closing his eyes.

“It’s stupid.”

“We all have fears,” Brennen reassured him. “It’s not stupid.”

He paused, not sure where to go from there.

“Do you want me to clean it?” He asked tentatively, watching as Colby’s face dropped and unease filled his eyes.

“I don’t wanna touch it,” he whispered anxiously.

“I know, but we can’t just leave it,” Brennen sympathized. “It’ll be so quick, and once I’m done I’ll wrap it up and you won’t have to worry about it until tomorrow.” He left out the part about probably having to stitch it up as well.

Colby chewed on the inside of his cheek, clearly trying to find a loophole, but his shoulders fell in defeat when he realized that Brennen was right.

“Will you stop if I ask?” His voice shook slightly.

“Of course. Here,” Brennen took the boy’s hand, placing it over his own. “You don’t have to look, but you can move my hand away if you need to.”

Colby nodded, letting Brennen guide their hands to his side, gently wiping away the dried blood around the edges of the cut. He could feel Colby’s eyes on his face as he carefully brought the cloth over the opening of the wound, dabbing as gently as he could.

Colby’s hand squeezed his tightly, but he didn’t attempt to stop him, so he finished washing the gash as quickly and as gently as he could, the boy exhaling the breath he’d been holding when Brennen pulled away.

“Done,” he smiled half heartedly at Colby, dreading the next bit of news he had to share. He set the cloth on the side of the tub and then held his hand out to Colby, helping him stand, then grabbed a towel, wrapping the boy in it.

“Alright,” he took a deep breath, stepping back to give Colby space. “This sucks, and I wasn’t sure until I looked at it properly while I was washing it, but I need to stitch it up.”

Colby looked at him blankly for a moment.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Brennen quickly flipped the lid of the toilet seat up and lowered Colby to his knees, crouching beside him as whatever little bit of food he had left in him was thrown up. He winced at the hollow retching sounds, resolving to get Colby to eat later one way or another. It was hard enough for someone to fight off infection as it was, let alone without any nutrients in them.

He rubbed his back soothingly as he emptied the contents of his stomach, waiting until the heaving had stopped before getting the toothbrush and toothpaste he had purchased earlier out of the drawer, offering them to Colby, assuming he’d want to get the taste out of his mouth. Colby thanked him quietly and sat on the floor to brush his teeth while Brennen drained the bathtub and threw the bloody cloth in the laundry hamper.

Brennen waited outside of the bathroom while Colby got dressed, because he figured that he’d still want his privacy even after what had happened.

“You can come in,” Colby said quietly.

When Brennen stepped back into the room, he couldn’t help but think that the younger boy somehow suited his clothes, despite them being too baggy in some places and too long in others. He noted the fearful look on Colby’s face as he pulled out the supplies he would need from the cabinet above the sink, and he felt so guilty; he just wanted the difficult stuff to be over and done with so Colby could settle in (as much as one could when stuck in a stranger’s home).

He gave Colby some pain meds, then had him hold the stuff he had grabbed while he carried him back downstairs, setting him down on the bed and placing everything next to him. The brunette watched with trepidation as Brennen got everything organized, and then he sat back, looking at Colby apologetically.

“I don’t-” Colby’s voice broke, and his bottom lip trembled. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“I know it’s scary, but we just have to get it done. It would be worse if we didn’t,” Brennen said gently, grabbing the bottle of rubbing alcohol. “Can you lay down? That’d be easiest.”

Colby did as he asked, lifting his shirt up for him, and Brennen sat on Colby’s thighs so he had one leg on either side of the boy, checking to make sure he wasn’t uncomfortable before he got started.

He unscrewed the bottle, glancing up at Colby again before making his next move. Colby had his eyes glued to the ceiling, fists clenching the pillow by his head, bottom lip tucked hard between his teeth.

“I’m gonna pour the rubbing alcohol on now, okay?” Brennen let him know, and Colby hummed in response. He slowly tipped the bottle and let the sharp smelling liquid flow out over the laceration, Colby’s stomach tensing at the cold sensation.

He hissed when the burn set in, and Bren placed his hand on his unaffected side as a distraction, squeezing lightly.

“Sorry, Colby,” he murmured, feeling heavy with guilt even though this was necessary. He couldn’t imagine ever purposefully hurting him with ill intent, let alone as badly as whoever left this gash did. 

“Okay, I’ll try to be as quick as possible, I promise,” he said, threading a needle and dipping it in some of the rubbing alcohol. “Breathe in, and then when you feel the needle, breathe out.”

Whenever Brennen had to stitch up his own injuries, he just got it over with and got drunk after to deal with it; he wasn’t really sure what advice to give someone who was as scared as Colby was. He was used to getting hurt, as it kinda went hand in hand with his work, but this was very different. He wished he could’ve gotten this done the day before, because it would have hurt a lot less when the wound hadn’t had time to begin healing.

Brennen moved his hand to the side of the gash, stretching the skin taut so that it would be easier to work the needle into. He lined the tip of the needle up, instructing Colby to take a deep breath, then pushed it in.

Colby let out a sob when he pulled the needle through the other side, quickly slapping a hand over his mouth to muffle any further noises, his other hand gripping the blanket tightly. Brennen winced, ignoring the tugging of his heart as he worked quickly, managing to thread the needle through a few more times before a hand was on his wrist.

“Brennen, I can’t,” Colby gasped out, and Brennen looked up, eyes meeting Colby’s panic-filled ones.

“You can, Colby,” Brennen encouraged him, moving the younger’s grip off his wrist and offering him his own hand instead. “You’re doing so good.”

Colby shook his head, blinking away tears, and Brennen squeezed his hand lightly, drawing his attention to it.

“I’m so close to being done, just a couple more,” Brennen promised. “You can squeeze my hand as hard as you need to, just let me get this done, okay?”

Colby nodded reluctantly, shuddering as he laid back down, closing his eyes and clutching Brennen’s hand like his life depended on it. Brennen spoke soft words of reassurance as he threaded the needle through the last few times, apologizing when he had to take his hand out of Colby’s to knot the last stitch.

He moved off of Colby’s legs when he was done, and, not sure how else to comfort the boy, opened his arms. To his surprise, Colby more than welcomed the hug, leaning into Brennen, half sitting in his lap. He was crying openly now, shaking in his arms, and Brennen suspected that it was only partially due to the pain of the stitches, but he ignored that thought.

“Okay, it’s okay,” he murmured, hugging him tightly, careful not to touch his injury. “You did so good Colby, so brave.”

Colby seemed to melt into his arms at those words, and Brennen’s heart clenched as the brunette laid his head on his chest, closing his eyes, lashes damp with tears. They sat like that for a few minutes before Brennen pulled away a bit to speak.

“I’m just gonna bandage it up now, okay?”

Colby hummed sleepily in response, seemingly exhausted after his sleepless night and stressful ordeal. Brennen lowered him back down onto the mattress, tucking the pillow under his head and grabbing a strip of gauze. He placed it carefully over the fresh stitches, sticking the sides down and pulling Colby’s shirt back over it so it wasn’t uncomfortably bunched up.

He quietly gathered up all of the supplies and moved it off the bed, then grabbed the edge of the blanket, pulling it up to Colby’s chin. If he wasn’t trying to be silent, he would have scoffed at himself; he was acting like a fucking babysitter.

For some reason though, he didn’t really mind.


	7. Seven

A couple weeks passed, and it had become increasingly clear that the basement situation was not working out. Brennen hadn’t been able to leave the house for more than a few hours at a time, because he had to be around to bring Colby food and help him to the bathroom multiple times a day, and aside from issues with the heating down there, it was just overall not a sustainable way to go about things.

Colby never complained; he was quiet and complacent, keeping to himself and only taking what Brennen offered, never asking for things. Despite this, Brennen knew he had to be losing his mind all alone down there, and even just finding a way for him to be upstairs during the day would make a huge difference. He was partially responsible for getting him into this situation, and he was going to make it the least-miserable he could.

So he spent an afternoon setting up cameras, putting padlocks on certain doors, and essentially Colby-proofing the house, locking up anything that could be used as a weapon, though he still couldn’t see the meek boy resorting to violence even if he did have the strength and energy to do so. He didn’t have a home phone set up, so he didn’t have to worry about that, but he hid his laptop in his room despite it being password protected, just incase.

And then he went downstairs to talk to Colby.

Colby was making use of one of the sketchbooks Brennen had given him when he opened the door to the basement, but he closed it and sat up when he heard him, watching Brennen with an expression he couldn’t quite read. He walked over to Colby and sat across from him on the mattress, trying to figure out where to start.

“I’m gonna let you come upstairs,” he began, “because I know it’s boring down here all day, and I need to be able to go out for work for longer than a few hours.”

Colby set down his pencil and leaned back against the wall as Brennen spoke.

“But there have to be rules,” he continued. “No leaving the house, for obvious reasons, although I do have locks and cameras in place.”

Colby nodded obediently.

“And at night you’ll still sleep down here. Other than that, just ask if you need anything, and...make yourself at home.”

Brennen grimaced at that last bit, hoping it didn’t come off as some jab at the situation, but Colby just nodded again.

“Please, _please_ listen to me when I say to not try and leave the house. I don’t want to scare you, but there are people who _will_ find you, and they will kill you without a second thought, and they won’t be nice about it. I’m just trying to protect you.”

Colby kept his eyes trained on his lap, mouth turned down in a frown.

“Alright,” he stood after a moment of silence, picking up a few things from the floor to bring upstairs. “I’ll carry your stuff; I don’t want you to strain the stitches.”

“Thank you,” Colby said quietly, standing and following Brennen to the door. Brennen kept a hand on his lower back as the younger leaned on him for support, still sore and in pain from everything, and led him to the living room once they were upstairs, gesturing to the couch.

“You can hang out wherever, and anything in the kitchen is allowed, except for the alcohol…” He paused, realizing he had never actually found out how old Colby was.

“I’m nineteen,” the boy answered his unspoken question, sitting gingerly on the couch, like he was afraid to break something.

“Okay, so yeah, no alcohol,” Brennen resolved, setting Colby’s stuff down on the couch beside him. “I’m gonna get some work done before I make dinner, so come find me if you need me; I’ll be in my room.”

  
  


Brennen sat tensely at his desk for a few minutes, unable to focus knowing the boy was upstairs, wondering if he should be concerned by the silence until he heard a quiet click, and the low volume of the television drifted down the hall to his room. He listened as he flicked through a few channels, smiling to himself when he stopped on a familiar sounding cartoon, relaxing back in his chair.

His smile dropped though when he realized it was another reminder that he was still really just a kid; a kid whose life he had completely turned upside down, who wouldn’t be the same again no matter what the outcome of this situation was.

He felt the heavy guilt deep in his stomach again, but pushed it away, not wanting to dwell on it if there wasn’t anything he could change. He had work to do.

  
  
  


Contrary to popular belief, contract killing was more than just getting a hit and taking care of it. There were data-bases that needed input, meetings to attend, and research and preparation to be done before anything was carried out. While someone else usually did the research for Brennen, he liked to do a little investigating of his own, now more than ever after what had happened with Colby.

Brennen passed the rest of the afternoon going over the information he had been given for his next job, listening to the consistent hum of the television as he did, until he glanced at the time and saw that it was half past six. He stretched in his chair, then put all of his stuff away, standing and heading down the hall to the living room.

Colby was wrapped in a blanket on the couch, spaced out and fidgeting with a corner of it while he watched the cartoon on screen, a far away look in his eyes. Brennen watched him for a moment, reluctant to disrupt his relaxed state, taking in the soft lines of his face accentuated by the light of the TV before clearing his throat quietly.

Colby flinched slightly, turning to look at him, eyes filled with uncertainty.

“Hey, sorry, got caught up in work,” Brennen said gently, watching his posture relax. “I’m gonna make dinner now; any preferences?”

Colby shook his head, pulling at the sleeves of his hoodie. Brennen’s hoodie.

“Okay,” Brennen stepped into the kitchen and opened the cupboard, scanning the contents. “Mac ‘n’ cheese sound good?”

Colby nodded timidly, as though he thought it was somehow a trick question.

“Alright. Why don’t you find a movie to watch while we eat?” Brennen suggested, turning the stove on, then realizing he might not know how to work his specific TV.

“One sec,” he walked back over to the couch, picking up the remote from the side table and showing Colby what buttons to press as he navigated over to Netflix, then passed it to Colby.

“What do you like?” Colby asked shyly, looking away from him and back at the TV.

“Your choice,” Brennen insisted, going back to the kitchen. “I’m good with anything.”

He listened to Colby scroll through the options as he made their pasta, getting out double of everything instead of just one set like he usually did. He carried it all over to the couch on a tray, setting it between the two of them and sitting down.

  
  
  


They spent the rest of the evening watching movies, Colby nodding with a small smile on his face when Brennen suggested a calming nature documentary to end the night.

Brennen turned to Colby when the end credits started to roll, and his eyes softened, his words dying in his throat. He had apparently fallen asleep at some point, curled up against the corner of the couch under his blanket.

He looked so tranquil and delicate, and Brennen felt his resolve diminish; it couldn’t hurt to let him sleep upstairs for just one night.

So he quietly stood, picking up their dishes and carrying them to the sink, leaving them there to deal with in the morning. He opened the hall closet as silently as he could, pulling out a pillow and bringing it over to the couch, crouching down beside Colby.

Brennen carefully lifted his head up and slid the pillow underneath, lowering him back down gingerly and holding his breath as he waited to make sure he hadn’t woken him up, satisfied when the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest stayed the same. He reached for the remote and shut off the TV, glancing at the sleeping boy one last time before retreating to his room for the night.


	8. Eight

Brennen was awoken the next morning by urgent whispering accompanied by a hand lightly gripping his arm, and he sat up in bed, reaching blindly for his phone and opening his eyes to see Colby standing next to him.

“Someone’s at the door,” Colby was saying in a hushed voice, eyes wide. That fully woke Brennen up, and he stood, flicking on the light.

“Come here,” he gestured for Colby to follow him, hurrying to open his closet door. Colby wordlessly allowed Brennen to help him inside, obscuring him with some hanging clothes.

“Stay in here until I come get you, and don’t make a sound, okay?” Brennen spoke lowly, tone serious. “I don’t know who it is, but I promise that you’re safer in here than out there.”

Colby nodded, sitting down in the corner against the wall, watching Brennen with fear in his eyes until the older man slid the closet door shut, engulfing him in darkness.

Brennen headed down the hallway to the front door, grimacing at the loud banging as he undid the locks.

A loud “Yo, Taylor!” greeted him as he pulled the door open; one of his work ‘colleagues’.

“What’s up?” Brennen opened the door wider, letting the burly man step in before shutting it behind him.

“Hey man, just came over to apologize quick,” he said as he sat down on Brennen’s couch, mindlessly shoving Colby’s pillow and blanket to the side.

“About…?” Brennen leaned back against the wall, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“Got word that there was a bit of a mix up with your hit last week; that was on me,” the man grimaced, throwing an arm over the back of the couch. “I dealt with the actual target and boss said you handled the mistake, but I figured I’d just make sure everything was cool.”

Brennen saw red for a moment, but took a deep breath, composing himself quickly.

“Yeah, we’re good, man,” he nodded casually, folding his arms over his chest.

“Cool, cool,” his associate stood again, stepping towards the door, pausing for a second to chuckle.

“Unlucky bastard who got caught up in this, eh?” 

Brennen gritted his teeth at that comment, wanting nothing more than to fuck this guy up as much as he had fucked the job up, but instead he just nodded, forcing a laugh as well.

“Ah, well, won’t happen again,” the man told him as he made his way down the steps, giving Brennen a quick wave.

_It better fucking not._

Brennen smiled at him until his back was turned, then dropped his cheerful facade, a frown taking its place as he shut and locked the door. He stood in the doorway for a minute, gathering his thoughts and calming his anger before walking back to his bedroom.

He knocked lightly on the closet to let Colby know he was there, and opened the door, heart sinking when the boy blinked up at him through watery eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked worriedly, crouching down and offering a hand to help him. Colby placed a cold hand in his, letting Brennen pull him out, and Brennen sat across from him on the floor, Colby with his back to the wall, legs pulled up to his chest.

He shook his head at Brennen’s question, bringing his face to his knees as he tried and failed to calm himself, hands shaking. Brennen moved so he was sitting next to him, tentatively wrapping an arm around his shoulders to comfort him.

Colby leaned into his side, and Brennen took that as a positive response, gathering him in his arms and shushing him softly.

“He’s gone, okay?” He soothed the younger boy. He nearly found himself kissing the back of his head inadvertently in his attempts to console him, but he stopped himself, instead running a hand gently through his hair, chest tightening when Colby lightly pressed back against his hand.

They sat like that for a while, Brennen watching the younger relax in his arms as he pet his hair, eyes drooping sleepily.

“Sorry,” Colby mumbled when Brennen shifted slightly after a few minutes, uncomfortable from sitting on the hard floor.

“Don’t be,” Brennen waved the apology off, and it was quiet again for a little bit.

“I thought he was gonna kill me,” Colby broke the silence, and Brennen instinctively wrapped his arms around him a little tighter, heart heavy.

“I would never let that happen,” he said firmly.

The sudden need to protect Colby was almost overwhelming. They were practically strangers, but Brennen knew there was no way he could let anything bad happen to the boy, and no matter how much he wanted to deny it, the desire to look after him was no longer one motivated by guilt alone.

  
  
  


After the incident, Colby went back to the couch to sleep for a little bit longer, but Brennen was too wide awake to do the same, so he instead got ready for the day and went out to run some errands. He ended up taking longer than he had intended, and got back home around dinner time, finding Colby in the kitchen when he stepped into the house.

The boy looked a bit like a deer caught in the headlights as he lowered his hands and stepped back against the counter.

“What’re you doing?” Brennen asked as he kicked off his shoes, locking the door behind him.

“Um,” Colby mumbled, nervous, “I was trying to make us dinner but I can’t really figure out how…” he pointed at the oven, which he had been leaning over when Brennen walked in.

“Oh, yeah, the oven is a little weird,” Brennen nodded, walking over and setting down his bags on the table. “You have to pull the knobs out first before you twist them.”

He reached around the boy to show him what he meant, then stepped back, gesturing at one of the bags he had brought in.

“I got takeout, so no need to worry about that anyway.”

  
  


The rest of the evening was spent similarly to the one before, eating dinner on the couch as they watched TV. Brennen took a few minutes to do his daily scroll through the local news feed while Colby’s nose was deep in his sketchbook, but he found himself questioning more and more with every passing day why there wasn’t anything regarding the boy.

As far as he knew, Colby had been living with his family before everything happened, so he didn’t understand why he hadn’t seen anything concerning a missing person yet. A few weeks had passed, so there was no way they hadn’t noticed he was missing. He didn’t dwell on it for long though, because he was better off that way, not having to worry about authority knocking on his door.

He set down his phone when he noticed Colby starting to nod off, wanting to get him downstairs for the night, not needing a repeat of that morning.

“Colby,” he said gently, getting his attention. “It’s time to get ready for bed and go downstairs, okay?”

Colby nodded dully, pushing his blanket off of him and making his way out of the living room with Brennen following close behind. He hesitated outside the bathroom, and Brennen could see his hand shaking on the doorframe, so he placed a hand on his shoulder to turn him around, scanning his face.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, worried. Colby’s eyes flitted from his to the floor and then back up again, filled with uncertainty.

“I’m scared,” he uttered under his breath.

“Of what?” Brennen inquired, dropping his hand.

“Of someone coming to the house again.”

“The basement is the safest place to be if that happens,” Brennen assured him. “You don’t have to worry about hiding yourself quickly.”

“What if someone comes down there?”

“That wouldn’t happen, and even if it did, they wouldn’t have the keys,” he reminded the younger, refraining from wincing at the reminder that the boy would be locked down there.

“I’m scared someone is going to break in quietly without you waking up.”

“I don’t think I would be able to sleep through that, but on the off chance that I did, what reason would they have to go downstairs? They would probably go through the upstairs first looking for valuables,” Brennen reasoned.

There was a short pause of silence.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.”

Colby looked like he regretted voicing his fears in the first place, bottom lip trembling as he looked anywhere but at Brennen’s face, and Brennen’s resolve was gone as fast as it had come, shoulders relaxing.

“No, you have a point,” he sighed, running a hand down his face. “I did sleep through the knocking this morning.”

Colby kept his eyes on the floor as Brennen spoke, shuffling his feet idly.

“I still don’t think anyone would try to break in, but I feel like if I make you go downstairs, you’re not gonna get any sleep because you’ll be up all night worrying.”

Brennen turned to glance at the living room, shaking his head.

“But you can’t sleep in the living room again. That’s way too risky,” he looked back at Colby as he contemplated the best course of action. “You’ll have to stay in my room; is that okay?”

Colby nodded timidly and stepped around Brennen, walking to the couch and grabbing his pillow and blanket and looking at Brennen expectantly, waiting for him to lead the way to his room.

Brennen nearly cursed under his breath, looking up at the ceiling in silent prayer before coming to a decision.

“You’re not sleeping on the floor; you don’t need those,” Brennen said after some hesitation.

“My bed’s a king size and there’s not really floor space anyway,” he elaborated when Colby appeared uneasy. “We won’t even know the other is there.”

“Are you sure?” Colby asked quietly. “I don’t wanna be any trouble.”

“You aren’t,” Brennen said firmly. “You didn’t ask to be in this situation; please don’t ever worry about that, okay?”

“Okay,” Colby murmured, placing his stuff back on the couch.

“Why don’t you go to the bathroom and get ready for bed while I get my room ready?” Brennen suggested, and Colby nodded obediently.

“Oh, wait, I got you some clothes today,” Brennen remembered, walking to the table where he had set down his bags earlier. He dug through them until he found sweatpants and a plain t-shirt, pulling them out and passing them to Colby.

“For sleeping,” he told him. “I’m pretty sure they’re your size, but if they aren’t, just let me know and I’ll exchange them.”

“Thank you,” Colby said shyly, accepting the clothes and heading down the hall to the bathroom.

Brennen waited until the bathroom door closed before going to his room, sitting down on the bed for a few minutes to collect his thoughts before clearing off the bedside table nearest to the wall. He wasn’t sure if this new arrangement was temporary, but he figured he’d make space for him either way so he could be comfortable.

He turned when he heard Colby enter the room, smiling reassuringly and looking him up and down.

“The clothes fit okay?”

“Yeah, thank you again,” Colby mumbled.

“No worries. I cleared out the far side for you,” he showed him. “I’m gonna get ready too, make yourself comfortable.”

Brennen took longer getting ready for bed than he normally would, needing time to collect his thoughts. The whole situation felt ridiculous, like some weird fever dream; if someone had told him a few weeks ago that this would be happening, he would’ve laughed out loud.

He never froze up like that, never let his emotions override his logic, but that time he did, and it made him feel completely out of place and out of control. Thinking about the future never scared him before, either - it was always the same routine of work and solitude - but now there was someone else in the picture that he had to think of.

Colby was laying down facing the wall when he reentered his room, looking small under his blankets, face burrowed into a pillow. Brennen winced at the way he flinched when he sat down on his own side of the bed, apologizing quietly.

“Hey, can I talk to you quick?” Brennen waited until he had turned to look at him.

“I know you’re worried about someone getting to you, no matter how many times I promise that’s not gonna happen,” he started. “So I just figured, to put you at ease, we could have a plan for if someone comes over again, yeah?”

Colby nodded in agreement, his full attention on him.

“Okay. If you’re upstairs, the closet in here is the best place, if you have enough time to make it there. If you’re downstairs, you’re probably fine anyway, but if you want to be extra safe, you can stand behind where the door would open, so you’re hidden if someone went down there.”

Brennen paused after that, unsure whether he should continue with what else he had thought of, but decided he should; best to cover all of his bases.

“If someone comes in and you don’t have time to hide yourself, I’m obviously open to other ideas, but I would probably just tell them you’re a hooker, if they asked.” He almost let out a laugh at the look on Colby’s face, but stopped himself, feeling too bad.

“I know it’s…” he gestured wordlessy, cringing, “but it’s the most realistic excuse I can think of for me to have you here. Is that okay?”

Colby mumbled his assent, and Brennen pretended he didn’t notice how red the boy’s cheeks had gotten, instead busying himself with locking his phone in his drawer. He switched off the lamp, plunging them into darkness, and shuffled down under the blankets, getting settled.

It was weird trying to fall asleep knowing someone else was in the room. He could feel Colby’s body heat from the other side of the bed, could feel the way the mattress dipped whenever he shifted, and it wasn’t bad, it just felt unfamiliar. It wasn’t like he never had girls over - they just usually didn’t stay the night, after; he never wanted things to get serious.

This was different, though. Different, but tolerable, almost comfortable. Maybe he could get used to it.


	9. Nine

Brennen woke up before Colby the next day. He got out of bed as quietly as he could, getting his phone and walking to the doorway, pausing to make sure the boy had stayed asleep before slowly closing the door, not wanting to disturb him with noise from the kitchen.

He was nearly done making pancakes when he heard soft footsteps enter the room, and he turned to see a very sleepy looking Colby, hair sticking up in every direction and eyes puffy.

“Hey, you didn’t have to get up yet,” he greeted him, turning his attention back to the stove. “Pancakes are almost ready, though.”

Colby didn’t respond, so he turned again, furrowing his brows when he saw the worrisome far away look in the boy’s eyes as he leaned tiredly against the door frame.

“What’s up?” He asked gently, concerned. Colby appeared to be thinking for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

“When, um…” he searched for words, glancing at the floor and then back up at Brennen. “Do you know when I’ll be able to leave?”

Brennen took a deep breath at that, and watched Colby’s face fall, and he knew that he already knew the answer, just didn’t want to believe it. He busied himself with getting the pancakes out of the pan and onto plates, not wanting to see his crushed expression.

“Colby…” he started, but didn’t know where to go from there. He leaned back against the counter and looked at the brunette with regret in his eyes, fidgeting with a towel.

Colby quickly averted his eyes, shaking his head and backing out of the doorway.

“Never mind,” he mumbled. “I’m gonna go back to sleep.”

Brennen didn’t say anything else, heart heavy as he watched him leave the room, hearing the bedroom door close after a moment, signalling the end of that conversation.

  
  
  


Colby still hadn’t left the bedroom by the time Brennen was ready to head out for a meeting a couple hours later, so he assumed he was still asleep, and wrote him a quick note so he would know where he was when he woke up.

He barely had the front door open when a weight slammed into his side, and he cursed under his breath when he realized it was Colby, reaching out and grabbing a hold of his hoodie to stop him. He wrapped his arms around his middle, pulling him back in the house and avoiding his kicking legs as he closed the door with his foot, fighting to keep him in place.

“Colby- fuck, stop!” Brennen said firmly, surprised at the struggle the boy was able to put up. He wrestled him to the floor, wincing at the cry Colby let out when his side hit the wood, rolling him onto his back and sitting on his legs so would stop trying to wiggle away. He caught his flailing fists in his hands and held them against Colby’s chest, feeling the fight slowly seep out of him as he forced him to hold still.

Colby let out an anguished sob when he realized it was over, that he had failed, and he went still underneath Brennen, chest rising and falling rapidly as he cried. Brennen let go of his wrists and sat back so he could pull the boy into his arms, and stood up, carrying him over to the stairs.

Colby tensed up again when he realized where he was being taken, and he began babbling incoherently, attempting to get out of Brennen’s arms as he was carried down the stairs.

“Please Brennen, I’m sorry,” he sobbed, eyes wide with fear. “I didn’t mean it, I’ll be good!”

Brennen swallowed the guilt he felt as he carried him through the doorway, knowing he didn’t really have any other options at the moment. He set him down on the mattress on the floor, holding his shoulders down.

“It’s just for a little bit, Colby,” he attempted to calm him, holding eye contact. “I have a meeting and I don’t feel comfortable leaving you upstairs now, but I’ll come back down here as soon as I’m home, okay?”

Colby shook his head frantically, hiccuping through his tears as he panicked.

“I’m sorry; I don’t have a choice,” he said as he looked for something to delay the boy while he tried to leave. He grabbed one of the blankets on the bed and tied one end tightly to his wrist, the other to the headboard, figuring it would take him a couple seconds to get out, giving him time to get to the door and lock it.

He stood as soon as he finished tying him up, apologizing again and running for the door, shutting it quickly behind him and shoving the key in the lock. He breathed a sigh of relief when it clicked, leaning back against it and placing his head in his hands as he tried to get his breathing back to normal.

That was fucking terrible.

  
  


Brennen was barely able to focus during his meeting, writing everything down so he could go over it when he was less distracted, and the long drive back home was even worse. He jogged up the front steps, fumbling with the key in his rush to get the door open, stopping only to shut and lock it behind him before heading downstairs.

He paused once he was stood in front of the basement door, not knowing what to expect. He had only been gone for a couple hours, but he felt sick to his stomach still for having to leave Colby in such a distressed state, and he kept reliving that morning over and over in his head while he was gone.

Brennen had just stepped through the door when Colby came flying into him, and he tensed up until he realized the boy wasn’t trying to run past; he had wrapped his arms around his middle, and Brennen relaxed. He returned the gesture, holding him tightly and rocking him gently as the brunette mumbled apologies against his neck, sniffling quietly.

“Shh, I’m not mad, it’s okay,” Brennen promised him, rubbing his back comfortingly. “Let’s go upstairs, alright?”

Colby nodded and stepped back, red-rimmed eyes glancing down as Brennen took his hand in his and led him up the steps. He stayed close to Brennen’s side as he sat them both on the couch, squeezing Colby’s hand reassuringly when he saw how nervous he was to meet his eyes.

“Okay...” he didn’t really know where to start, but he figured it was better to just lay everything out rather than act like nothing was wrong.

“I don’t think you can leave, not for a long time,” he forced the words out, eyes scanning the boy’s face as he spoke. “I didn’t mean to...I didn’t want this to happen, and I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve this.”

Colby looked so miserable, he couldn’t help but pull him into his side, holding him in hopes of bringing him some comfort. He rested his head against Brennen’s shoulder, mentally and physically exhausted.

“You were never supposed to be involved, but the guy who came over yesterday fucked something up, and you happened to be at the incorrect location that he gave me. It was never supposed to be you, and I know that apologizing doesn’t fix anything, but I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life that this happened.”

Colby nodded in response, eyes drooping. They sat silently for a few minutes, the younger warm against his side.

“It’s not your fault,” Colby murmured eventually. Brennen didn’t know why, but he felt a small surge of relief at his words, a bit of weight lifting off of his shoulders.

“I’m still sorry that this happened.”

Colby stayed quiet, and Brennen started to think he had fallen asleep until he shifted in his arms, wincing.

“You okay?” Brennen asked, concerned.

“Mhm,” Colby hummed, picking absentmindedly at a scab on his arm once he had resituated himself.

They fell into a comfortable silence again, losing themselves in their thoughts as rain pattered gently onto the roof and the sky began to darken.

  
  
  


Colby stayed close to Brennen for the rest of the evening, sitting at the table and watching him while he made dinner, resuming his position against his side on the couch when they sat down to watch tv after they ate.

Brennen assumed he was feeling clingy after being alone for much of the day, and he was happy to have his company. His soft presence was more than welcome after the usual hostility and coldness of his associates at the meeting.

He had just finished getting ready for bed and was sitting in his room when he heard Colby call his name from the bathroom, and he got up quickly, walking down the hall and finding the door open.

Colby was in front of the mirror with his shirt lifted up, a slight frown on his face. Brennen followed his gaze down to his side, exhaling when he saw what he was looking at.

“I think some of the stitches opened up earlier,” Colby confirmed his suspicions, and then his stomach sank when he realized what he meant by earlier- when he had forced him to the ground to keep him from getting out.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, Colby,” he ran a hand down his face.

“Do you have to close it back up?” Colby asked anxiously, meeting his eyes in the mirror.

“Let me see it better,” Brennen tapped his shoulder to get him to turn, bending slightly to look at the half-healed wound. Thankfully, it was mostly scabbed over, and it didn’t look like it had bled that much despite a couple of the stitches being out of place.

He heard Colby breathe a sigh of relief when he straightened and shook his head, letting him drop the corner of his shirt back down.

“I’ll just put a new bandage on and we’ll keep an eye on it, okay?”

He had Colby sit on the counter while he applied a fresh dressing, sticking it down carefully, hyper-aware of the boy’s eyes on him as he did so, and then they went back to his bedroom.

  
  
  


They had been lying in the dark for a few minutes when Colby spoke.

“My brother did it.”

“What?” Brennen furrowed his brows, confused.

“The gash. He thought I swiped drugs off of him,” Colby almost whispered. “I didn’t. Wouldn’t ever touch those,” he quickly added, as if he thought Brennen would assume he did.

“Why were you out walking by yourself?” Brennen asked, trying to wrap his head around it. “What about your parents?”

He heard the blankets shift before he answered.

“Too coked-out to care. I was on my way to the store.”

Brennen swallowed hard, connecting the dots in his head. It made sense now why he hadn’t seen any missing persons ads in the news; it broke his heart to know that was what kind of environment Colby had been in, though.

He didn’t know how to respond. He appreciated that Colby felt comfortable enough to open up to him, but he didn’t know how to say that, so instead he slid his hand along the mattress until it bumped into Colby’s, the younger slipping his hand into his immediately.

Brennen had almost started to drift off when he heard Colby mumble something, and he turned on his side.

“What?”

Colby paused before repeating himself, hiding his face in his pillow.

“Can you...would it be okay if you held me?”

He sounded so scared and unsure of himself, and it made Brennen’s heart ache, everything in him wanting to protect the boy from the world, or at least protect him from experiencing worse than he already had.

“Okay,” he murmured, letting go of his hand to shuffle closer, pulling him close, Colby’s back against his chest. He felt so small in his arms, and he seemed to melt into his embrace as they got comfortable, Brennen being careful to not rest his arm over his wound.

He expected it to be harder to fall asleep with someone in his arms, but between the calming sound of Colby’s even breaths and the rain on the pavement outside, he was lulled to sleep within minutes.


	10. Ten

Brennen was pulled from his sleep the next morning, a repetitive noise dragging him out of his warm and cozy bliss. He and Colby must have realized at about the same time that what they were hearing were heavy footsteps, because he felt the boy tense up in his arms just as Brennen opened his eyes fully, panicked.

He was about to throw the blanket over Colby’s body in a last-ditch attempt to hide him when the bedroom door swung open, and a man walked in.

Brennen began to reach instinctually under his mattress for the switchblade he kept hidden there at night, but paused when the man’s face came into view and he realized who it was.

He collapsed back into bed with an exasperated exhale, resisting the urge to reach for the weapon anyway out of pure annoyance.

“ _Fuck_ , Matt, you scared the shit out of me,” he groaned, running a hand through his hair to get it out of his face as he sat back up. His acquaintance (though nuisance might have been a more accurate word to describe him) was staring straight past him, and Brennen turned to see a wide-eyed Colby looking back, uncertainty written all over his face.

“Whoa, didn’t know you swung that way, man,” his attention was drawn back to Matt as he took a few steps forward.

“Don’t blame you though- I mean, look at that fuckin’ mouth,” the guy nodded appreciatively, and Brennen skin crawled as he held back a grimace, instead shooing away the outstretched arm that was reaching for Colby.

“Aww, c’mon dude, you always share,” the man complained, dropping his hand and leaning back against the dresser. Brennen resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his childish behaviour, instead turning himself so his legs were hanging off of the bed, hands gripping the edge of the mattress.

“Not now, Matt, he’s tired.”

Matt raised his eyebrows at that, eyes falling back on Colby as he let out a low whistle.

“Must’ve been some night then, huh?” He shot a suggestive wink at the brunette, and Brennen stood up, just wanting to get him out of the room before he said or did anything worse.

“Fuck off, man, let me get dressed,” he grumbled, ushering him through the door. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

He took a deep breath once he shut the door, turning around with an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m so sorry Colby,” he winced, trying to ignore how pink the boy’s face had gotten during the exchange, clearly caught off-guard by the comments. “I didn’t even know he still had my key.”

Colby tucked his bottom lip between his teeth, shrugging his apology off, looking like he didn’t quite trust himself to speak in his flustered state. Brennen reached for his hoodie, pulling it over his head.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised. “Just gonna see what he wants, and then I’ll get him to leave.”

  
  


It turned out that Matt just wanted back some tools he had lent Brennen a couple months prior, and Brennen gladly obliged in return for his house key, breathing a sigh of relief when he shut and locked the front door behind the guy. When he reentered his bedroom, Colby was still laying where he had left him, looking at him questioningly from where he had buried himself under the blanket.

“Sorry,” Brennen said again as he sat back down on his bed, putting his face in his hands. “Old… friend, I guess. He won’t be back.”

“It’s okay,” Colby gave him a half smile, and Brennen returned it before turning to glance at his clock, squinting at the time. Just barely six o’clock.

Colby seemed to follow his gaze, and they looked back at each other at the same time, the younger shuffling further down the bed to make room for him again. Brennen took the hint and climbed back under the blanket as well, smiling to himself at the way the brunette shyly averted his eyes as they got comfortable again, draping his arm protectively over his smaller frame.

Brennen didn’t miss the content sigh that left the boy’s mouth as he pulled him close, and he closed his eyes, burning the moment into his mind.

A few weeks passed without incident after that, Colby falling into place in his daily routine. Brennen had always seen himself as a man of solitude, a lone wolf, but he found that the more time went by, the more he became accustomed to living with someone else. The domesticity was oddly calming, and a welcome change of pace when he took a break from working.

He hadn’t been sent out on a hit in a while, most of his time being used to prepare for the one that was currently being planned out, but he had just received word from a higher-up that it would be going down Friday evening, so he spent all of Thursday getting things in order. Colby left him to it after realizing he wouldn’t be much help, since Brennen was reluctant to let him in on even the smallest detail, not wanting to risk putting him in the slightest amount of danger.

Brennen ran through the list in his mind for the third time, making sure everything he needed was in his bag, and then he stowed it away under the kitchen sink, stretching and making his way to his room. He flopped down onto his bed with a tired sigh next to Colby, who had spent the day holed up in his room reading, doing his best to keep out of his way.

“Time to sleep?” Colby asked, unable to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice, and Brennen turned onto his side, narrowing his eyes.

“I didn’t forget, Colby,” he chided, and Colby groaned, setting his book down with a dramatic _thwack_. 

Brennen had warned him earlier that day that he wanted to take his stitches out before he left, since he had put if off for the boy’s sake, and incase the job took longer than he expected, he didn’t want Colby to have to deal with it himself if they started to reject.

“You’ll barely feel it,” he said as he rolled back out of bed, walking the few steps to the bathroom.

“I don’t believe you,” he heard Colby whine as he got out the med kit, carrying it back to his room. He set it down on the bed as he crawled over so he was sitting cross legged in front of the brunette, raising his eyebrows.

“Do you not trust me by now?”

Colby lowered his eyes, exhaling.

“I do, but you know I’m scared of stuff like this,” he mumbled, hands fidgeting with the strings on his sweats.

“You’re right, I _do_ know,” Brennen nodded. “Which is why I’ve taken that into consideration, and I’m still promising you that you will barely notice anything.”

Colby looked up at him doubtfully, but shuffled down the bed regardless, knowing this was an argument he wouldn’t win. Brennen got out tweezers and a small pair of scissors while Colby lifted his shirt for him and got himself situated.

“Okay, this is all I’m gonna do,” Brennen said as he moved himself closer to Colby’s side. “I’m gonna take the tweezers like this.”

He placed one hand palm down on Colby’s lower stomach, using the other to gently close the tweezers over the knot of one stitch. He felt Colby hold his breath as he did so, and he glanced up at him with a reassuring smile.

“Then I’m going to pull up just a little bit,” he paused as he did so, then reached for the scissors, slipping them into the loop he had exposed and carefully snipping the suture.

“And then I’m gonna pull the stitch out.”

Colby let out a whoosh of air as Brennen quickly gave the wire a tug, the end of it easily slipping out of his skin. He sat back to put it in the tin lid of the med kit, then looked at Colby expectantly.

“That felt weird.”

“But it didn’t hurt, right?”

Colby reluctantly hummed his agreement, and Brennen snorted, leaning back down to continue his work.

  
  
  


It seemed like it always became easier at night for people to say and do things they normally wouldn’t.

Colby had slept in his bed every night since the first time Brennen let him, and he’d become so used to it that he almost couldn’t remember what it felt like to sleep by himself, but something felt different tonight.

They had gravitated towards each other as always once the lights were out, Brennen holding Colby with what felt like scary familiarity, the younger’s head against his chest. His eyelids had just begun to get heavy when he felt Colby’s warm breath ghost over his neck in a whisper.

“Hm?” He rumbled low in his throat, not opening his eyes.

“Don’t go.”

Brennen _did_ open his eyes at that, squinting in the darkness, although it didn’t help much with the boy’s head tucked into his neck. He pulled back, propping himself up on his side as Colby rolled over just enough to look up at him.

“What?” He half-laughed, furrowing his brows.

“I wanna stay with you,” Colby mumbled, laying his face back down on the pillow, wrapping his arms around himself to make up for the loss of Brennen’s body heat.

“I’m only gonna be gone for a day or two,” he said slowly, still unsure of what he meant. Colby was quiet for a moment, closing his eyes and swallowing nervously before he spoke again.

“No, I mean...I think- I think I wanna _be_ with you.”

The room suddenly felt way too small, and Brennen sat up fully, the soft blanket pooling around his waist as his brain short-circuited. His first reaction was shock; it felt like it came out of nowhere, except he knew he would be a fool if he actually believed that.

He supposed that at some point they had crossed an invisible line, going from a platonic situation to...whatever this was. Maybe that was the problem; they hadn’t ever really established what they were, and now Colby was just confused.

“No, you don’t,” he said firmly, reaching over to switch on a lamp, changing his mind and turning it back off when Colby quickly recoiled under the blanket, shielding his eyes from the light.

“I do,” Colby said quietly when Brennen pulled the blanket away from his face. Brennen shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, half debating whether it was a bad idea to just grab his shit and leave for the job early.

“You don’t,” he repeated, running a hand down his face, mind racing. “I’m the only person you’ve spoken to in over a month, and you got attached.”

“So what if I got attached? You did too,” Colby’s voice trembled. “You hold me every night without me even asking.”

“Because it helps you sleep! I don’t do it for any other reason.”

Colby flinched, hurt evident in his eyes, and Brennen’s chest tightened, knowing he had said the wrong thing.

Colby rolled over wordlessly, back facing him. Brennen stayed unmoving, head feeling fuzzy from the sudden rush of emotions, both Colby’s and his own, that were being thrown at him.

He thought back over the past few weeks, wanting so badly to be able to prove to himself that he hadn’t put any mixed signals out, but he knew he had. He was already crossing a line when he let the kid upstairs, but letting him sleep in his bed every night? Practically _cuddling_ him to sleep? Christ.

But maybe it wasn’t unintentional. There were countless nights that he had gone to bed with a small smile on his face just because of something Colby said before falling asleep, and he was always happy to see the boy when he woke up. He found himself looking forward to getting home after business excursions, always ready to cheer Colby up if he’d had a rough day, eager to spend time with him.

_Fuck._ He had really fucked this up.

Brennen took a deep breath as he laid back down, staring up at the ceiling.

“Colby,” he murmured, a slight shift of the blankets the only response he received.

“You’re right,” he cleared his throat, blinking in disbelief at his own words. It was quiet for a moment, and then Colby rolled back over to face him, eyelashes wet with tears.

“I’m sorry, Colby,” he turned as well so he could look at him properly, eyes roaming his face. “I didn’t mean that.”

Colby’s gaze flickered from one eye to the other, unsure of where to focus.

“I just didn’t expect...this,” Brennen gestured with a tilt of his head. “Now that I think about it, it makes sense, but…”

He paused, trying to figure out how to word things properly.

“I just have to know you don’t just want me because I’m the only option, or because you think you...owe it to me, somehow.”

Colby opened his mouth to speak, but Brennen cut him off with a shake of his head, eyes soft.

“I want you to think about it, okay? Both of us need to,” he said gently, reaching a hand up to brush a stray tear off of Colby’s cheek.

Colby nodded timidly, and Brennen gave him a reassuring smile.

“We can talk about it when I’m back.”

  
  


Somehow, he fell asleep with the boy in his arms once again.


	11. Eleven

The next morning, Brennen made sure he woke up before Colby, slipping quietly out of bed. He got ready quickly, leaving a little note letting Colby know where certain things were if he needed them, ending it by wishing him a good day, cringing at how formal it sounded. There wasn’t time to worry about how he was wording a note though; he was geared up and out the door by daybreak.

Brennen expected to be home by Saturday evening, Sunday afternoon at the latest, but by Sunday morning, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Sometimes jobs took longer than predicted, and it usually wouldn’t faze him all that much, but every time his thoughts drifted while scouting out a location, they went right back to Colby.

He’d forewarned Colby that the job could take a few days, but he knew by now how the boy’s brain worked, and he knew he’d be starting to worry, regardless of how many times Brennen had reassured him beforehand.

There wasn’t really anything he could do about it though, so he resigned himself to just being as efficient and focussed as he usually was; everything else could wait.

  
  
  


It was late Monday evening when he at last got in his car to make the hour’s drive back. Once he finally got the target alone and in a secure location, it was a relatively easy hit, a quick in and out job, minus the few days of repositioning and recalibrating.

He dropped his incriminating gear off at a contact’s house to be cleaned on his way home, then continued the drive, passing the time listening to the radio until he was pulling into his driveway.

The lights in the house were on, so either Colby was still awake, or he had fallen asleep and forgotten to turn them off; he closed his car door as quietly as he could just incase it was the latter.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed up the steps, unlocking the door and stepping lightly into the entryway. There was a rustling from the bedroom as he kicked his shoes off, and then a mop of brown hair was peeking around the corner, accompanied by wide eyes and what he was positive was his own hoodie.

Brennen dropped his bag as Colby ran into his arms, the younger smushing his face against his chest with a relieved cry. Colby’s hands gripped the back of his jacket tightly, like he was afraid to let go of him, and Brennen hugged him back twice as hard, rocking him gently.

“I thought you weren’t coming back,” Colby said when they finally pulled apart, and Brennen shook his head.

“I wouldn’t ever just leave you here.”

“No, I thought- I thought you were _dead_ ,” Colby’s voice cracked on the last word as he blinked up at him through watery eyes, and Brennen pulled him in for another hug, unable to handle the fear and uncertainty he saw.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he hushed him. “I’m back now, and I’m not dead.”

“No shit,” Colby laughed half-heartedly as he stepped away, wiping at his eyes. “Did everything go okay?”

“Yeah, it just took a little longer than I expected.”

Colby nodded, then smiled timidly at him.

“I’m glad you’re back."

  
  
  


There was an unspoken air of ambivalence as Brennen unpacked his things, Colby sitting cross-legged in bed, watching him with a distant look in his eyes. It almost threw Brennen off, the way he could physically feel how hard he was thinking.

“Did you think about it?”

There it was.

“Yeah, did you?” Brennen replied nonchalantly, keeping his back to Colby as he put his clothes away.

He received a quiet noise of affirmation, and turned around, bracing his hands on the dresser as he leaned back against it.

“And?” Brennen prompted.

“My thoughts haven’t changed, but,” Colby looked down at the blanket, “I realized you never said if you felt the same.”

Brennen nearly made a face at that, almost certain he had made it plenty (unintentionally) clear with his actions that he had feelings for the boy, but he stopped himself, reminding himself that Colby was younger and therefore likely less secure in himself and relationships.

“Of course I do,” he said softly, pushing off of the dresser and walking over to the bed. He sat across from Colby, taking his cold hands in his warm ones, squeezing reassuringly. Colby avoided his gaze, cheeks tinted pink.

“Obviously I never intended for that to happen, but it _did_ happen over time. I just didn’t want to initiate anything; I wanted it to be on your terms if anything developed.”

Colby nodded, looking up at him shyly with a small smile on his face.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?” Brennen laughed, confused.

“For being the first person to care about me,” Colby mumbled.

Brennen’s heart ached at that, but he kept a smile on his face, reaching up and pushing Colby’s messy hair out of his eyes.

He made a promise to himself right then and there that no one, including himself, would ever hurt this boy again.

  
  
  


That night as they laid in bed together, Brennen allowed his hands to roam, tracing lines from the small of Colby’s back to the curly baby hairs at the base of his neck, revelling in the way he pushed back into every light touch. He smiled to himself at the little noises of contentment that bubbled up the boy’s throat, wanting nothing more than to always make him feel that way.

He trailed his fingers gently over the raised skin on his side, remembering how different things used to be. It wasn’t that long ago that Colby could barely look at him, and now he was melting into his touch like it was the only thing he needed.

The way he fully dissolved in his arms, the way he put so much trust and faith in him to take care of him and treat him well- it was a lot. He felt as though he was holding glass, or something just as breakable, and he might as well have been, what with the trauma the kid had been through. He didn’t know a lot about Colby’s life before everything happened, but he knew he wanted to make sure that he didn’t ever have to live through anything akin to it again.

He knew what he wanted to do, and he’d gladly take on the responsibility; it was just a matter of making sure it wouldn’t all be for nothing.


	12. Twelve

It was a few weeks later when Brennen finally decided he had waited long enough to act on his plan.

They spent the morning together, making breakfast and sitting in comfortable silence while Brennen read and Colby drew, until Brennen announced that he had to get going.

“Where?” Colby inquired, looking up from his paper.

“Gotta go meet with the higher ups for a new assignment,” Brennen said apologetically, standing and heading to the bathroom, hoping he hadn’t given Colby any reason to be suspicious.

He technically was telling the truth; he just wasn’t doing that until later. He had a plan formed in his mind, a way to get Colby out of all this shit, but he had to first be sure that he wasn’t misreading the situation, or putting too much faith in an idea.

So he got ready for the day, hugged Colby goodbye and told him he’d be back before dinner, and left. Except he didn’t actually leave.

He pulled out of his driveway and reversed until he was parked a few houses down, still with a clear view of the front of his house, and then he waited.

When he had left the house, he did something he never ever did- he left the front door unlocked from the inside. He knew that eventually Colby would walk past, and he’d definitely notice that the keypad’s light was off, and he wanted to know if he’d actually leave if he thought he could.

That was it; that would be all Brennen felt he needed to confirm whether it would be safe or not for Colby if he did what he was planning to do.

And it was all going fine until about twenty minutes later, when Brennen spotted the mailman walking down the street. He swore under his breath when the man turned into his driveway, placing his hands on the wheel incase he needed to drive, not sure what to expect.

He watched the man walk up the front steps and ring the doorbell, tapping his fingers anxiously against the wheel as he slipped a couple envelopes into his mailbox and left a package in front of the door before heading back down the stairs. Movement from the living room window caught his eye, and he spotted Colby hesitantly pulling back the blinds, peeking out at the porch.

He began to second guess his strategy. It wasn’t like he couldn’t get there quickly on the off chance that Colby actually decided to make a break for it, but it still made him nervous, no matter how much confidence he had that Colby was being genuine.

Aside from that, it would undo so much of the progress he had made with the boy if there had to be a repeat of the last time Colby had tried to escape. If he had to catch him and get him back in the house, it would obviously be for his own good, since he didn’t want the kid to get fucking killed, but that wouldn’t make it any less damaging for the both of them.

Brennen held his breath as the door slowly opened once the mailman was out of sight. He watched as Colby stepped through the doorway, shielding his eyes from the bright sun with his hand as he glanced up and down the street. It took all of Brennen’s willpower to stay put in the car as he waited to see what he’d do.

After a moment, Colby bent down to pick up the package, turning and placing it in the house before reaching up to the mailbox, retrieving the envelopes that had been placed inside and bringing them in as well. He looked around once more before he stepped back into the house and closed the door behind himself, and that was that.

Brennen sat frozen for a minute, almost in disbelief that it had gone so smoothly. He felt his heart warm when it hit him that it hadn’t been misplaced trust; he had been right to believe that Colby’s words had been sincere, and even though he knew this had been the logical thing to do, he still felt guilty for not just instantly trusting him.

He stayed where he was for another ten minutes or so, just to be sure that was really it as he debated what to do next. It wasn’t like he didn’t have things in place as extra safety precautions; he had the cameras at the doorways that he could access from far away, and he could remotely lock and unlock things.

And Colby trusted him even after everything he had been put through. It felt like after that, it was his turn to trust Colby as well, so that’s what he decided to do- he’d go to his meeting and he would trust that Colby would still be there when he returned.

  
  
  


Brennen pulled back into his driveway a couple hours later, forcing himself to stay relaxed as he walked up the front steps, letting himself into the house. There was no excited greeting as he closed the door behind him, and Colby wasn’t in the living room or kitchen, so he headed down the hall to check the bedroom, only to find it empty as well.

He could suddenly hear his own heartbeat as all of his doubts crept back into his mind, despite him trying to push them away. He rushed back the way he came and turned, jogging down the stairs to the basement, although he knew there was a slim chance Colby would ever go down there on his own accord. Sure enough, it was unoccupied.

He ran back upstairs, ready to start calling his name when he noticed the door to the backyard was unlocked, and walked up to the kitchen window to look outside.

The wave of relief he felt when his eyes fell upon the boy sitting on the porch bench was unparalleled.

He bent over the counter momentarily, forcing his heart rate to slow as he inhaled deeply, calming himself down before he walked over to the door. He swung it open gently so he wouldn’t startle Colby, stepping out.

Colby was sat on the cushioned bench with his knees pulled to his chest, book in hand, but he set it down when he saw Brennen, frowning as he sat down beside him.

“I know you did that on purpose,” he said, hugging his legs and resting his chin on his knees.

Of course he did. In hindsight, Brennen would be more concerned if he _hadn’t_ figured that out; he was pretty sure he was more than clear regarding his feelings about keeping Colby safe, so he should have assumed it would be obvious that he wouldn’t just forget to lock the door.

“Did you want me to leave?” Colby asked before Brennen had a chance to speak, voice trembling.

“No, of course not,” he said firmly, quickly cutting that train of thought off.

“Then why?” Colby mumbled, hurt still evident in his voice.

Brennen thought for a moment about how it would be best to bring up his idea.

“I had to know for sure.”

“Know what?”

“That… okay, listen,” he started over, leaning back against the bench, taking a deep breath. Colby sat up a bit straighter, attentive.

“You can’t just live the rest of your life inside this house.” Colby furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

“But there’s no other option.”

“There is; it just didn’t become a possibility until recently, because of us,” he gestured between the two of them. Colby still looked just as puzzled, so he figured he might as well just lay it all out and hope for the best.

“We can move away from here, together.”

He watched as Colby processed what he had said, a glimmer of hope flickering in the younger’s eyes before it was quickly dampened.

“How?” Colby questioned, looking doubtful. “You have your work here, and I don’t have any legal documents with me.”

Brennen nodded, all too familiar with this line of questioning, having gone through it all repeatedly over the past few weeks.

“Trust me, I’ve thought over everything,” he said understandingly, pulling his legs up onto the bench as well so he could face Colby.

“My work is always temporary. I pick up jobs when I feel like it, and they’re each short term commitments. It’s not like I’m on a contract like your average day job,” he explained, and Colby nodded, though he didn’t look fully convinced.

“And as for your documents, if you know where they are, we could get them.”

Colby raised his eyebrows slightly.

“They’re in my house,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I know it’s not the most ideal situation, and it’s completely up to you,” Brennen acknowledged his worries. “But I could come with you, and obviously you know your home better than I do, but maybe if there was some way you or I could possibly sneak in…?”

Colby chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought, looking down at the wooden planks of the porch.

“My room does have a window, I just don’t know if it would be safe.”

Brennen nodded sympathetically, ignoring the way his blood boiled at the thought of anyone, let alone family, laying a hand on Colby.

“I would be right by your side the whole time, but still, it’s your choice,” he said. “We could probably figure something out without needing those documents; it would just be easier with them. But you can take your time and think about it, okay?”

Colby hummed in acknowledgement, directing his gaze back at Brennen, allowing a small smile to slip onto his face.

“Where would we go?”

Brennen smiled back, reaching forward to brush his hand along Colby’s face, heart warming when the boy pushed back into his touch.

“Anywhere you want, baby. The world is yours.”


	13. Thirteen

The night felt quieter than usual as they sat in the car, hands linked over the center console, their breathing the only thing breaking the silence.

Brennen studied Colby’s face as the boy stared with trepidation at the house they had pulled up alongside, parking behind some bushes to stay partially obscured. The hand that Brennen wasn’t holding played nervously with the strap of his empty bag as he bit his lip, working up his courage.

A mixture of fear and determination were held in the younger’s eyes when he turned back to face Brennen.

“Okay,” Colby said resolutely, jaw set in decision.

Brennen smiled encouragingly, giving his hand a squeeze before pulling back, both of them slipping out of their seats and shutting the car doors as quietly as possible. Leaves crunched under their shoes as they crept along the back wall of the house, ducking under windows until Colby placed a hand on his arm to stop him, pointing at the one ahead.

“Yours?” Brennen mouthed, and Colby nodded, swallowing hard as he gazed back at the point of no return. Once he was in, he needed to grab his stuff and go, ideally without being heard, but he had Brennen if things went south.

Brennen took the lead, peeking his head past the edge of the wall to look inside. It was dark, aside from the hallway light filtering in through the half open bedroom door, and when he tried the window, it slid open with a reluctant hiss. They both froze as they waited to see if anyone had heard, but no one appeared, so he slowly pushed it the rest of the way.

He climbed in first, then carefully helped Colby in, mindful to not bump into anything. The open bedroom door seemed like a potential problem; he could hear people down the hall, and he wasn’t sure whether someone might walk past, so he tip-toed over to the door, closing it as much as he could without having to turn the handle.

Colby began going through his drawers, pulling out papers, clothes, and other belongings, shoving them in his bag as Brennen stood by the door.

They both heard the footsteps coming down the hall at the exact same time a few minutes later, Colby’s eyes widening in alarm. Brennen gestured for him to hurry up and get out, so he quickly grabbed a few more things and went for the window, dropping his bag on the other side.

Brennen stepped protectively in front of Colby when the door opened, a pissed looking man barging in.

“The fuck?” He slurred, stepping forward.

“Go to the car,” Brennen calmly told Colby, trusting that he would listen to him and turning his attention back to the man. He blocked him from reaching for Colby, holding him back by the collar of his shirt.

“We don’t want any trouble,” he attempted to de-escalate the situation, speaking clearly and quietly.

“Get the fuck back here,” the man shouted after Colby, looking over Brennen’s shoulder as he jumped out of the window, ignoring his presence completely. Brennen shook him slightly, drawing his attention to him.

“Don’t come looking for him,” Brennen said lowly, eyes threatening. “He’s in good hands and he’s better off.”

He dodged a badly aimed swing, cringing at the smell of hard liquor that wafted his way. He shoved the man back, taking the chance to follow Colby out the window, heart pounding as he ran to the car, angry shouts following him.

Colby already had the engine started for him when he jumped in the driver’s seat, slamming the door and hitting the gas, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

Brennen waited until he was a few streets down before slowing and turning to look at Colby. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but he definitely didn’t anticipate the elated grin on the boy’s face as he gripped his bag, cheeks flushed from the cold.

He let out a relieved laugh, Colby joining in, the adrenaline catching up to them as they realized they had gotten away safe.

  
  
  


The moment they stepped through the front door, Colby was tugging at Brennen’s shirt, pulling him down in for a kiss. Brennen happily complied, smiling against his lips as he lifted him up, carrying him to the bedroom.

Colby giggled as he set him down on the bed, and Brennen’s heart melted. The boy whined when he leaned back, and he snickered at his neediness, pulling his shirt over his head and helping Colby with his as well before crawling under the covers with him.

He hovered above him with a soft smile on his face, feeling his heart dance at the matching one on Colby’s face before he leaned down and took his bottom lip between his teeth, biting gently.

He left kisses and lovebites as he made his way down his body, pressing his lips just below his stomach before stopping at his pants and looking up at Colby with a sly grin.

“Let’s get these off, yeah?”

  
  
  


Brennen lovingly kissed Colby’s forehead as the boy drifted off on top of him, chest to chest, skin soft and hair wet after their shower. He was warm and stable in his arms, one leg draped between Brennen’s and the other hanging off of his side, fists laying limply next to his head.

He watched the relaxed rising and falling of his back, tracing the tattoo between his shoulder blades, trailing his eyes down to where his face was smushed against his chest, and he knew he had made the right decision.

Nothing could compare to how he felt looking down at him; he couldn’t have asked for anything more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna write smut, but for some reason it just didn't feel like it suited the vibe of this fic lol, sorry about that. Maybe I'll write a separate NSFW one-shot following this fic as an optional read. :)


	14. Epilogue

Los Angeles was pleasantly sunny. The freshly painted walls of their new place were lit up by the wide windows that faced the beach, and the rays reflecting off the sand cast a warm glow over everything.

Some mornings were spent lazily in bed together, tangled in cool sheets, blinds shadowing blocky patterns on their skin as they dozed. 

Then there were the mornings where they rose with the sun, enjoying a quick coffee and breakfast on the patio together before Colby was off to classes and Brennen went to work shortly after.

Weekends were for beach-side bike rides and afternoons spent in the water, outings to the shops and cafes in town, spontaneous dates and sunlit hikes.

Their favourite time though was always the evening. Cozy nights spent curled up on the couch together, unwinding with dinner and a good movie before making their way to bed, unravelling each other with whispered words of intimacy and familiar touches that left their skin and hearts on fire.

It was a complete change of pace from the way things used to be, and they were still getting used to it, even after a few months. Brennen caught himself watching his back on occasion, as though he expected his past life to physically manifest itself and come after him, even though logically he knew things were different now.

Life was good. Colby got to worry about normal things, like college courses and friends, and Brennen got to focus his energy on a job that didn’t (quite literally) suck the life out of things.

Nothing compared to coming home to one another, though. No matter what type of day they had, everything felt like it slipped back into place as soon as Colby was in his arms again.

He knew things wouldn’t always be so simple, but as long as they had each other, that was more than enough for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much to anyone who made it this far! I wrote this fic over the course of a few months, and I honestly didn't really expect to ever finish it, but I did in early January, which is when I decided to start uploading it here. It's the first chaptered fic I've ever finished writing, and even though it was rushed and has many flaws and things I'd like to change, I'm happy I stuck through with it and finished it. Hope you enjoyed the read! :) x


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